The Return of the Football Head
by SuprSingr
Summary: We know that Arnold and Helga get together, have stormy times, break up, Arnold moves away, and that Helga is forced to move on without him for some years... but when does Arnold come back? Now...


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A/N: *Clears throat* Salutations, Comrades.

Okay, we all know that after "The Jungle Movie", Arnold and Helga get together. We also know that they fight a lot, but also probably always make up. But then, we are hit with the fact that Arnold moves away, and Helga gets her own show "The Patakis". But then he said they'd get back together in later years... But when is that? *Shrugs* There is the possibility that Helga graduates and gets done with college before ever seeing Arnold again. So in this fic, Helga has finished college, and is sharing an apartment with her best friend Phoebe, and her best friend's fiance, Gerald. So she's been living like that kinda. But when does Arnold come back? This is how I think it may happen.

Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold! All rights belong to Nick and Viacom... though they SHOULD belong to Craig.

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The Return of the Football Head

One-Shot

"Hey, babe! I'm home!" Gerald called throughout the apartment as he took off his coat and hung it up on one of the hooks, smiling all the while. He hadn't changed _that_ much. His hair was a lot shorter, but still with a bit of height. Helga always joked with him and called him "_Medium Hair Guy_", and he'd always roll his dark brown eyes in good natured manner. He had made it to about 5'11", not counting his hair, of course. He wore jerseys on the weekends, and on a week day he'd always wear a red button shirt, with gray dress pants and a matching jacket. He liked his style and would always brag about how _cool_ he looked, while Phoebe would just giggle and pat him on the back lovingly, and Helga would then list off all the reason he _wasn't_ cool. Leaving the toilet lid up, clogging the bathtub with all his hair, and having the volume too loud when he watched tv. _And_ her favorite thing to complain about would always be how he liked to get all his **_tall hair germs _**all over her belongings. How he was able to live with that woman under the same roof, he'd never know.

Phoebe flew out of the kitchen, looking really anxiously at him. "So... Is he coming?"

Phoebe. She hadn't changed much. Same hair, although it did make it to about her shoulders now, but the style was about the same. She had made it to about 5'6", which wasn't too bad considering how short she used to be. She was a little beauty, that was for sure, and her eyes were a dark beautiful brown. She always wore about the same thing every day. A blue skirt that went about to her knees, a tasteful women's suit jacket, with a silky, white button shirt underneath tucked into her skirt. Though now was a special occasion, so she opted to simply wearing a light blue dress with a pastel yellow sweater unbuttoned over it, along with some simple blue flats.

Gerald smiled at her, and nodded. "He wanted to go see his grandparents first though. He'll be here in a little while."

Phoebe grinned and took off her apron, hanging it up on a little hook by the door to the kitchen.

Gerald walked over to her and gave her a little kiss on the cheek. "So where's Helga the horrible?"

Phoebe looked up at him and smiled. "I wanted to make a nice dinner for his homecoming, so I sent her out to pick up some ingredients. She should be back soon."

"Is she wearing the-"

"Yes, yes, I forced her into it. It wasn't easy either. Helga _hates_ dressing up. But I managed to get her into it." She smiled and walked over to the couch, sitting down.

Gerald followed her, and sat beside her, casually swinging his arm over her shoulders. "He's gonna pass out cold when he sees her in that dress..." He grinned, but then took on a slightly sad looking pensive expression. "How long has it even been since they've seen eachother?"

Phoebe frowned. "Well, he moved when we were all only fifteen, so it's been approximately nine years."

Gerald whistled lowly. "That's a _long_ time..."

Phoebe nodded in agreement.

The door suddenly swung open violently and a tall blonde woman stumbled through, carrying several paper bags of food, which hid her face from view. She closed the door with her foot and stumbled over into the kitchen. There was a lot of noises heard while she was in there. Pans falling, glass breaking, a cat yelping (Even though they didn't own a cat), to name a few.

The blonde could be heard rustling around to get all the food put away, and her words rang through it all pretty clearly despite the loud noises. "Criminy! What... Oh no you... _**Holy cr**_-..." More pans were heard falling at that moment, when the doorbell rang.

Gerald instantly shot up and ran towards the door, the pots and pans and yells of Helga still ringing throughout the apartment. "I got it!" He yelled to Helga, and opened the front door.

There stood a man in their doorway... A tall man, looking to be about 5'9" or 5'10". He had unruly golden stocks of hair that suspended all out in different directions, and bright green eyes filled with understanding and patience. He was wearing a simple black suit, with the jacket undone, and underneath a yellow and red flannel shirt of all things. But the most notable thing about the man... was the_ distinct _shape of his head... It was oblong... or as Helga would always say... a football.

Gerald grinned at him, and gave him a quick hug, gesturing for him to come in.

Arnold grinned back and walked in, observing their quaint little apartment. He could hear crashes coming from the kitchen which alarmed him, so he looked at Gerald with questioning eyes, hoping for some kind of explanation.

Gerald simply smiled at him with half-lidded eyes, waiting for the blonde to come out from the kitchen.

More crashes came, and then some more words could be made out faintly through all the ruckus. "_Oh_ for the love of-... Will you just get in there?!" More crashes. "**AH!** No good, dirty... Forget it! Pheebs!" She came out through the kitchen and glared at Phoebe on the couch.

Gerald grinned widely as he watched Arnold's eyes widen at the woman and his mouth fall slightly agape.

Helga had definitely changed. She had two perfectly arched eyebrows now, and she had some curves that definitely weren't there _before_. She had made it to be about 5'10" herself, and was proud of it. Her hair was hanging down, and flowing over her shoulders in a complex sea of waves and ringlets, with a little bit captured in the back and held firmly in a very familiar pink ribbon. She had grown more into her nose, so it didn't seem as big as it once was. She was wearing a flowing pink dress that was cut low in the back, and went right above her knees, and it seemed to sparkle every time she moved, even just slightly. Her eyes were as big as they had always been, and were that same lovely blue they had always been. Not only had Phoebe been able to_ force_ her into the dress, **AND **some lovely white high heels... but she also was able to make her wear some make up. Not that Helga didn't wear make up... she did, just not a lot. Just some blush and eyeliner and that was usually it. But Phoebe had gotten her to put on some shiny pink lip gloss, eyeliner, mascara, and soft pink blush... which Helga had promised would be the death of her as soon as their guest was gone.

In short... Helga looked lovely.

"I'm sorry, Phoebe. But I _cannot_ handle the task of stuffing all that crap into the stupid cupboards or the _stinkin' _refrigerator! Who is this _special_ guest you wanted to cook all that junk for anyway?"

Phoebe giggled and pointed at Arnold, grinning widely.

Helga turned her head, and froze. Her eyes grew wide, and her jaw fell slack. Looking a lot like Arnold himself.

Nothing was said for a good minute.

The tension was unbearable, and Gerald and Phoebe were starting to get a little anxious.

Finally, Arnold blinked and looked at Gerald rather than at Helga.

Gerald returned his look, and then motioned to Helga inconspicuously with his head.

Helga couldn't move, and when she felt the sudden need to breath... she couldn't. Her entire body was frozen, and she could hear her heart pounding in her ears. After another long moment of silence she blinked, and sucked in a big gulp of air, looking at Phoebe, who looked back and motioned to Arnold with her head and eyes.

The two blondes looked back at eachother, somewhat awkwardly. Arnold cleared his throat and took a step forward, smiling slightly. "Hey Helga."

She blinked again, almost unbelieving that he was even here. She took a hesitant step towards him, and lifted her hand slowly to touch his face. She brushed his cheek softly with her fingers, but immediately snapped them back to her, as if she had been burned. She took another deep breath and closed her eyes before responding, "Hey.... A-Arnold."

He lifted his hand to touch the cheek that her fingers had brushed, almost unbelieving himself that she was actually here. He then touched her cheek, caressing it softly with the tips of his fingers. Her blue eyes snapped open to meet his green ones, and a mixture of emotions ran across both their faces.

They both suddenly found themselves smiling, and Helga then wasted no time in grabbing him roughly by the collar and pulling his lips to her's. His eyes went wide in surprise... but soon his eyes fell half-lidded... and then all the way closed as his arms slowly wrapped themselves around her, pulling her closer as he kissed her back.

Phoebe and Gerald found themselves letting out breaths that they hadn't realized they were holding in, and smiling knowingly at the couple.

Their kiss began to get a little more passionate, and soon they felt the resentful need for air and pulled back, panting hard. Helga smiled at him, completely intoxicated by his presence. "So how've you been, Football head?"

He smiled back at her with half-lidded eyes, also feeling rather intoxicated as he rubbed her back lovingly with one hand. "Oh, you know... fine... until now... Now I'm_ wonderful_."

Gerald and Phoebe smiled at eachother, before Phoebe finally asked, "So are you two together again?"

They both looked at eachother nervously, searching for some sort of confirmation in eachothers eyes, before they both smiled softly and nodded, answering simultaneously. "_Yeah_..."

Gerald grinned.

"Finally!"


End file.
